Youth Sunday!!!!

Today was the long-anticipated Youth Sunday at church! It was the coolest church service EVER. . . If this had been my first Sunday at this church, I would be back next Sunday for sure! The service started with a video that the kids made and Byron and Melanie edited that was REALLY good. I'm hoping Melanie will put it on Youtube so I can post it here. We also watched one of Andrew's claymation projects and it was a big hit. The kids led all of the music with Rob at the piano and me standing behind them as the back-up singer. I'll be back-up for these guys anytime. . .

Steph did a beautiful job with her solo offertory and Morgan gave the announcements and read the scripture. . .

Each of the kids prepared a special letter about their moms and there wasn't a dry eye in the place when they were finished!

This is a video of what Zach had to say about me:

I cried. . .

Before the sermon the kids acted out a skit about Mother's Day where each "child" had tried (and failed) to get their mother something nice on her special day. The funniest part was at the end when "mother" Morgan told them they all take after their fathers. . . (plural. . . get it??). . .

After the skit Zach delivered his first public sermon. I was so proud! He put a lot of time and effort into his research and I think it really paid off. I'm uploading the sermon onto Youtube right now but it's almost 8 minutes long so it's taking a VERY long time to load. I'll try to post it later tonight. Jered texted me right before Zach's sermon to remind me to take a video (thanks Jered) and it felt like he was right there with us. Steph was sitting next to me when I got the text and it made her grin from ear to ear!!

Rob's mom and dad and my parents all came to church so they could watch their grandson preach! He made us all very proud!!

After the service, Gloria and I got our hands on little baby Ethan. I couldn't help but think that it seems like just yesterday that Zach was this tiny. . .


And now, as I'm writing this post, I'm sitting at the table in the cabin looking out at the river feeling very, very blessed. . .

Happy Mother's Day!!

We celebrated Mother's Day with my side of the family on Saturday at Settler's Park. . .
The sun was shining (finally!), making it a perfect day for a picnic. . .


After playing catch with my nephew for awhile, we played a rousing round of Boccie Ball. . .





Rob tortured his nephews . . .

. . . We even played a game of wiffle ball. . .

Settler's Park has a great playground so we all spent a little bit of time playing with the kids. . .

It was a lovely, relaxing way to spend the afternoon. . .

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!!!

Riding. . .

On Friday morning, Rob and I drove out to Emmett to meet with the organizers of the upcoming Cherry Festival. It just so happens that the ATV park is also in Emmett so Rob couldn't resist bringing the 4-wheelers along. This is our second trip to this park and I've decided that Rob needs someone besides me to go riding with!! I'm not quite ready to take the same trails and hills as he is (and I may never be. . . ) and I found him patiently waiting for me to catch up on several occasions. . .

We've had so much rain lately that the trails were muddy and filled with much deeper ruts than the last time we were here. I followed Rob along the same trail that we traveled on during the last trip but the ruts were just too deep for me. My bike ended up on three wheels with the back two spinning in the dirt. I had to call for help. . .


Rob had to back out my bike. . .

. . . I felt like such a girly-girl. . .

We had to turn around and go back the way we came because I was just too wimpy to go on. . .

I told Rob to just go have fun and let me putter around on my own. . .

Maybe I wasn't a total wimp. . . My bike was almost as mud-splattered as Robs was by the time we were done riding. . .

Rob said he had fun but I can't help but think he needs someone a little more daring to go riding with. . .

SONSOFDAY People Get Ready Ukraine (HD)

Lovin' this band. . .

Horse Thursday. . .

Sneak Peek . . .

This coming Sunday, on Mother's Day, the youth group is in charge of the entire service. . .

Their fearless leaders, Byron and Melanie, brought them together for a run-through on Wednesday night. This has been in the works for several weeks now and everyone seems to know exactly what they're doing. . .

I don't want to give too much away but there will be a couple of videos, lots of music and a little something to make all the mothers cry.

Zach will be delivering his first public sermon. . .

I have a feeling this will be a Sunday to remember. . .

I wouldn't miss it for the world. . .

"Old Friends". . .

An old friend was in town for a few days and we caught up over lunch on Wednesday. I don't mean old as in aged, because we're all still in our prime!, I just mean old as in I've-known-her-for-15 years-and-we've-been-through-a-lot-together old. Jeanette and Kristin were two of my very first friends when we started going to BFC when Zach was about 13 months old and, even though Jeanette moved away in 1997, we have always stayed in touch.

. . . And even though Kristin is just a few minutes away from the shop, she and I rarely take the time to just hang out together. We get the kids together often and we keep up-to-date on each other's lives in passing but it's not often that we sit down and chat without any of the kids around. It was really nice having a grown-up lunch and I'm convinced that we need to do this more often!